Girl Power (20 page)

The minute he hung up, Sally booted up her computer and found the video

he'd mentioned. She watched the six-minute video in fascination. When it was

finished, she noticed that almost a million people had watched the same video.

You can't buy publicity like this!

Sally pushed the on button of the intercom.

"Yes, Sally?"

"Ask Lindy, Lee, and Kelly to step into my office. Oh, Millie, change that to the conference room and call Melissa, Carla, and Brenda, too."

"Yes, Ma'am."

~ * * ~

By the time everyone moseyed into the conference room, coffee cups in

hand, Sally had the You Tube Video ready to play on the wall-mounted, large-

screen, monitor. "Good morning. I just found out the town hall meeting I held in Texas last week was recorded and placed on You Tube. I want you to watch it

and then we'll talk."

Everyone watched the video. "This video has over nine-hundred thousand

plays. What do you think?"

Brenda was the first to speak. "I love it. You have one of their own making the case for you."

Lee nodded. "Brenda's right. That gives the video credibility actors could

never achieve.

Carla set her coffee cup down "What I like about it is its positive message.

That's rare. You can watch political clips all day where real people say so-and-so did this to me—the dirty bastard—but having a supporter stand up and praise

you? That's uplifting."

Lindy nodded. "I agree with everything said, plus there's at least a half

dozen wonderful sound bites we could use in ads. Do you think she would sign

off on using clips of her in ads?"

Sally pursed her lips. "I don't know why not."

Sitting next to Lindy, Melissa agreed, "I'm sure she will. The video shows

Sally in a very positive light. I think recording events like this and promoting them could be big. Sally what does your political instinct tell you?"

"It tells me that reality trumps production. It tells me we should record

every event we have, large or small, in case we're able to replicate the message of Margaret."

Chapter Sixteen – Twenty Weeks to Election Day

If American politics are too dirty for women to take part in, there's something

wrong with American politics. -
Edna Ferber

While other members kept hosting Town Hall Meetings, by the end of May,

Lindy and Lee made a tactical shift. Sally and Winfred began holding large

events in convention halls and stadiums to deliver their message of hope and

equality. It wasn't quite as personal, but attendance increased until the size of the rallies generally exceeded twenty-thousand. Fewer events were scheduled,

allowing Sally and Winfred better use of their time and the enthusiasm

generated in large groups was astronomical.

In addition, key SAFE members guested on TV shows whenever possible.

Moreover, SAFE hired employees exclusively to monitor and promote on the

social networks.

After hosting all key members of the Pink Party on her show, Winfred

selected Kelly Cahill to host the weekly two-hour show, Women in Politics,

starting in June. The network also began a daily news program called Real News.

The purpose of the show was to evaluate news reports from all major news

organizations—many of which were known to politicize or just plain spin the

news—for truthfulness.

~ * * ~

"Good evening and welcome to the opening show of Women in Politics. My

name is Kelly Cahill and I will be your host. This is, frankly, my first time on TV

as a host, but Winfred said I was a natural, so who am I to argue with a woman

who is renowned for good judgment? After the show, you can let me know if

Winfred is right or wrong by emailing me at [email protected] or tweeting me at

@kelwip.

"As the name of the show implies, we are not an equal gender show, though

the goal of our show is just that—gender equality.

"To start our show off, I have two wonderful guests, Molly Markum, the

President of the Women's League, and the woman who took Sally Cummings'

place in the Maryland race for U.S. Senate, Madeline (Maddy) Wilson, formerly a

moderate Republican House member from Maryland."

The camera panned back, and showed the guests directly across the studio

interview desk from Kelly.

"Good evening Molly and Madeline, and welcome to Women in Politics."

A second camera showed a close-up of the two guests. Molly spoke first,

"It's a pleasure to be here and it's an honor to be the first guest on your very important show."

Madeline added, "I, too, am honored. I'm also honored to be the first

candidate, after Sally, to declare my candidacy as a Pink."

Kelly nodded. "That's right. You were originally going to run for a house

seat and when Sally switched to President, you switched to the Senate seat she'd run for. The last time I looked polls had you tied with Senator Mannogue."

"Yes, I feel good about my chances."

Kelly turned to Molly. "Molly, the first and most obvious question I have for you is what do you think of the SAFE movement?"

Molly set her water glass down. "I can't think of enough superlatives for

your movement. At first, I thought it didn't have a chance. I could see the good intentions were there, but good intentions don't always work."

"No, they don't. Especially, when facing a mountain of money."

"I know, but the timing for a women's party couldn't have been better."

Madeline chipped in. "I agree. My former republican colleagues seemed to

lose their political logic as if their base is expanding, while, in fact, it is

shrinking."

"I know, isn't that crazy?" Kelly said, "My husband is a successful Latino businessman, who would normally vote conservative. However, instead of

trying to appeal to Latinos, Republicans are trying to restrict their vote with

voter ID laws, which are obviously laws passed to suppress the non-Republican

vote." Molly lifted her hand above the table and counted on her fingers as she spoke. "Yes, in addition to suppressing the Latino vote, the laws disenfranchise many African Americans, young voters, including students, the handicapped,

the poor, and even the military and elderly, who tend to vote republican. It may work for them, but I have a feeling it'll anger these voting sectors and they'll have a net loss of vote."

"I agree." said Madeline, "In addition to antagonizing those groups, there's gays and lesbians, union workers, and the largest voting segment of all—

women."

Kelly nodded. "That's what I don't understand. In fact, nobody I know,

including republicans and independents, understands what they're doing. It's as

if republican politicians collectively decided to drink some Jim Jones Kool-Aid

and commit political suicide."

Molly grinned. "Let's hope it turns out that way."

~ * * ~

Once again, it was the time of the month to meet Melissa Mole, as Crowe

had begun to think of her, to get the latest information, pay her and get paid. He hoped she wasn't Angelique today. The last two encounters with Angelique were

much too rough and left him sore for a week. Well, she did warn me. Yes, she

did, and now he was a believer.

Crowe entered Starbucks, got in the short line for candied coffee drinks and

glanced toward the corner table where Melissa/Angelique always sat. Sure

enough, he spotted a great looking redhead at the same table. This time he

figured out this was Melissa or Angelique or whatever incarnation of this

woman the redheaded version was. With his fizzed-up, caramelized coffee in

hand, he studied this new version of Mistress Melissa as he headed toward her.

She was dressed for the warm weather in a summery, sea-foam blue, gossamer

dress with a wavy hem, matching sandals with four-inch heels, and a breezy,

brimmed summer hat.

She smiled and removed her sunglasses as he drew close. He smiled back.

"You are looking wonderful today."

"Thank you. Sally and Lindy keep me so busy I find it harder and harder to

break away. In fact, I'm so busy I had to turn over the day-to-day business of

running Françoise's Fashion Boutique and Salon to a capable associate."

He sat in the empty seat. "What lovely creature sits across from me today?"

A coy smile formed on her lips. "I am Monique, my playful, flirty persona."

He took a sip of his coffee and wiped the foam from his upper lip. "Well

Monique, you are every bit as lovely as Angelique and Melissa." He retrieved an envelope from his breast pocket and traded it for the one Monique offered him.

She opened hers. "520.000. I'll give you your share and we'll have some fun when you come over."

"I would like that. Do you think this time we could have…you know?"

"No dear, I don't know."

"Penetration. Could we have penetration?"

Monique squinted her lovely blue eyes. "But we already have penetration,

with the harness."

"I know that. For once, I want to penetrate you!"

Monique stood. "We can never do that. It would ruin our

Mistress/Submissive relationship. I'll see you tonight." Crowe watched Monique stride toward the entrance, admiring every waggle of her divine ass through her

sheer dress.

When she was out of sight, he opened the envelope she'd handed him.

Curious, he went right to the latest membership totals…and swallowed.

24,630,420!

Christ, when are they going to level off? They're like the man-eating plant in

'Little Shop of Horrors', they keep growing and growing.

~ * * ~

"Mr. Magnon?"

Crowe looked up from the couch he rested on. "Yes?"

"Sorry to bother you during your nap time, Mr. Magnon, but Mr. Rogue is

on line one."

"Fine. I'll take the call."

Priscilla added, "Mr. Magnon?"

"Yes."

"A word of warning, sir. He sounds upset."

"Thank you, Priscilla."

"Hello. Crowe here."

"It's Karol."

"Yes, Boss."

"Have you seen the latest poll numbers?"

"No, sir. Is it bad?"

"It's terrible. That Cummings bitch is only five points behind Coop."

That's what you get for running the incarnation of clueless Thurston Howell III.

"Crowe! Did you hear what I effing said?"

"Yes, sir. I'm listening."

"Then there're these stats you gave me."

"What about them?"

"What about them? Did you look at them?"

"Yes, sir. They are troublesome."

"I'll say. 24 million members in only three months. And unlike our

membership, the Pinks are really energized."

"I know, Boss. Sir, it would help if Coop would occasionally answer a

question."

"He can't."

"He can't?"

"No. He doesn't have any answers."

"He doesn't? None? How's he going to run the country?"

"Like our no-tax maven said, he doesn't have to govern. He just has to sign the Republican bills and veto the others." Rogue's harsh voice softened. "Crowe, have you even had a conversation with Coop?"

"No, sir. Not more than a few words."

"Well, it's like holding a conversation with a Myna bird."

Crowe started to worry. "Then who's going to run the country?"

"The billionaires. Who else?"

"And that's all right with you?"

"Being on the winning side is always all right with me. But if we don't do

something about these Pinks we're going to lose, and I hate to lose."

"I hate to lose too, sir. What do you think we should do about it?"

"Crowe, I didn't say this."

"Of course not, sir."

"We need to take the gloves off."

"Absolutely, sir."

"I think we need to start a campaign of intimidation."

Crowe grabbed a tablet and started writing "Intimidation! Yes?"

"First you should turn the Tea Party loose on them."

He scribbled 'TP'. "Yes, I'm listening."

"A little vandalism would be nice."

Then 'V' "Vandalism."

"Then a campaign of disinformation. We'll bombard them with lies."

He wrote 'DI'. "Yes, that's good, sir. No wonder they call you the brain, sir.

Anything else?"

"Yes, we need a scandal."

Crowe looked up. "A scandal?"

"Would you stop echoing me?"

"Sorry, sir."

"We've been paying your mole good money."

"Yes, I know, sir."

"Tell her to earn it. Tell her to dig up a big, juicy, scandal."

He wrote 'SC'."Yes sir, a scan…what if she can't find one?"

"Then do it the Grand Old Party way—manufacture one."

Chapter Seventeen – Fifteen Weeks to Election Day

There is a special place in hell for women who do not help other women.

-- Madeleine Albright

In the middle of July, Tea Party members began picketing SAFE National

Headquarters and some state chapters. Pockets of vandalism, including egging,

spray painting, and breaking storefront windows took place at SAFE

headquarters, many branch chapters and some SAFE candidate offices.

When investigations proved fruitless, the various law enforcement

departments agreed to randomly patrol the affected locations two or three times

a night. That cut down, but didn't stop the vandalism, so Lee Casey asked a

friend at the FBI to look into it.

~ * * ~

Near the end of June, guesting on the popular TV show, View, one of the

hosts asked Sally her position on gun control.

"Guns? Yes, there certainly are a lot of them—three hundred million I hear. I guess I never formed an opinion." Remembering Carl at Skull Rock Valley, she innocently added, "I do think men place too much emphasis on guns, though."